Here's Looking At You
by Jalyss
Summary: Of course her best friend would find a date through the newspaper. Oneshot. AU.


_Another light, not really that fluffy one-shot! My sister gave me this prompt for another fandom (coughAvalonCodecoughValdoTiacough) but I decided to try it out for SasuHina.  
Prompt: somehow getting together through the 'flirty' newspaper column. Well, in Melbourne, there's a newspaper called the 'mX' which has a column dedicated to people sending in texts telling others that they find them attractive and that they'd like to meet for coffee or something._

_For those who are waiting on updates for my other stories, I hope this will do as a temporary staller._

_Completely unbeta-ed._

* * *

Ino Yamanaka scrolled through the web page, browsing through all the text messages people were sending to their site. Most of them didn't have enough _pizazz_ to make it into their section. She was, after all, ultimately responsible for whose messages made it into the daily (trashy, as some people called it) KX newspaper.

There were too many that followed the same, boring format of: _'To the hot/cute/beautiful male/female on the (time) train/bus, coffee/lunch? - cheesynamehere'_ and it was just… So. Damn. Boring. The blonde wanted something with more substance, something that was a change from all the 'you're hot, coffee?' posts she was seeing. Admittedly, she did publish a couple when the day was slow.

She continued to scroll through, cringing a little when she saw a few of the _creepier_ messages, copying a couple of the more interesting messages, and ignoring the regular garbage she normally saw. Azure eyes scanned the page before flickering back to one message.

'_To the woman with midnight hair in a beige coat on the 7:26 Konoha train reading 'The Da Vinci Code', you have the most captivating eyes. __**– Raven**_

Didn't that description fit her best friend Hinata Hyuuga? The shy female always took the same train every morning to go to work, and she did have a beige coat… That, and she _was_ currently reading that book.

She dialled up her friend to figure out whether or not the message really _was_ about Hinata.

"_Ino? What's up?"_

"Hinata! I was browsing through the messages and found one that says… _'To the woman with midnight hair in a beige coat on the 7:26 Konoha train reading 'The Da Vinci Code', you have the most captivating eyes'_ signed Raven! That sounds _exactly_ like you!"

"_Ehhh?!"_ The blonde could hear her friend let out an embarrassed squeak.

"Do you know who _Raven_ could possibly be?!"

She could hear the clinking of chinaware on the other end before her friend replied. _"I… I… umm… I'm not sure… But that… I think… Did someone actually send that in?"_ Hinata's voice was incredulous.

Ino was grinning. So the girl _did_ have an idea of who could have sent her that comment. Now the cerulean-eyed female was dying to know. "Yeah, they did, _whoever_ it was…"

"_I'd rather not speculate who it was… Though… you're not __**publishing**__ that comment, are you?"_ The bluenette's voice was apprehensive.

"Of course I am!" the editor exclaimed. "This is a chance for you to reply to that comment! Someone is _flirting_ with you, Hinata, and rather publicly, might I add. When I publish this, you _**are**_going to send in your reply, and I _**will **_publish it!"

She could hear Hinata groan on the other end. "You can't make me send in a reply."

"Oh, honey, if you don't send one in, _I will do it for you_."

"_I need to get back to work… You had better not…"_

"You better read the paper today, sweetie! And think of what you're going to write. Bye~!" Before the quiet female could reply, Ino hung up on her friend.

The blonde was only trying to help out her friend. Hinata hadn't been on a date, ever. Oh, it wasn't from lack of interest. The bluenette was pretty, in an exotic way. It was just that Hinata seemed to be more engrossed in her work rather than working on expanding her social life. Ino practically had to _force_ the girl to go to nightclubs with her, and even then the pale-eyed female only relented a couple of times a year.

Hey, she was being a good friend, right? Hinata needed to learn to loosen up a bit and have some fun once in a while.

Grinning, she continued to read through the comments in a good mood.

* * *

The following day, Ino eagerly checked the messages on the site. If only the site allowed her to hunt for people's phone numbers! It would have been so much easier if she could just look up Hinata's number instead of skimming through every message in hopes of finding her friend's. At least, Hinata _better_ have submitted one, or she'd be writing a very flirty message for her!

The blonde had spent at least 2 hours searching before finding the message. To her utter disappointment, it was so _boring _and _bland_, and definitely not flirty enough.

'_To Raven (KX Tues): Thank you. – Midnight.'_

Seriously?! That was _all_ she wrote? Ino face-palmed at the lack of… well anything in that message.

Ino was just being a good friend, really, or so that was how she justified it.

* * *

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't interested in seeing 'Raven's' answer to her – _ahem_, Hinata's response. It was now one of the perks of her job, no matter how temporary it was, and she'd be damned if she didn't take advantage of it!

Since she already knew the mystery guy's handle, she could just search for it on the submissions page.

'_To Midnight (KX Wed): Perfect. – Raven.'_

Grinning to herself, she relaxed back in the office chair. Since Hinata hadn't given her a scandalised call yesterday, it was safe to assume that her friend hadn't read the newspaper, believing the incident was over and done. Now how was she going to tell Hinata that 'Raven' was willing to meet her for a cup of tea?

While she stewed on a multitude of ideas, she continued reading through the messages, picking out the ones she figured were daring and interesting enough to make it to the column.

It was around noon when she got a call from her favourite person, the unique ringtone playing. She hit the 'answer call' button without looking away from the screen. "Hey, Hinata, what's up?"

"_Ino, __**what did you do?!**__"_

Pausing, she turned her full attention to the conversation. "What are you talking about?"

She heard her best friend let out a quiet frustrated noise. _"You… the newspaper, KX!"_ A sigh. _"He… he approached me on the train this morning and… and said he'd like to have tea! What did you do with my message? I certainly didn't ask him for tea!"_

Ino was inwardly patting herself on the back. "You did agree, right?"

"_What did you do?!"_

"I'm not telling you unless you tell me what you said~!"

A loud groan. _"He said, 'yes, I'd like to have tea'. And I was confused since I had no idea what he was talking about. He then elaborated, 'the KX?'. And that's when I knew you had to have changed the message I submitted!"_ There was a moment of silence on the other end, and Ino had to strain to hear Hinata's next words. _"But I agreed…"_

The blonde clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from squealing. Her best friend was going on a _date_. What a record. She'd mark it down on her calendar. "Oh I just wrote something along the lines of 'not bad yourself, tea?'."

"_You wrote __**what**__?!"_

"Something like that, hon. Nothing to get embarrassed over. I didn't write anything more aggressive since I know that's not your style."

"_But you wrote __**that**__!"_

"You'll thank me later, trust me. Besides, you need to go on at _least_ one date in your life." She spotted her boss walking down the hall. "Oops! Well, I will talk to you later. Tsunade's coming through soon. Bye!" She quickly ended the call and shoved her phone in her bag before grabbing a pen in her left and striking a contemplative pose. Just in time too as Tsunade had entered her work area.

She couldn't wait until Hinata had her date. And she'd grill every detail from her best friend.

* * *

It had been three days since Hinata's little date and the blonde hadn't been able to contact her best friend at all. So, when the bluenette called her on Sunday morning while she was just about to tuck into some French toast, she practically lunged for her cell phone.

"Hinata? WHERE HAVE YOU _BEEN_?! Didn't you see the messages I left you?"

Ino could hear her friend let out a fondly exasperated noise. _"I don't think I need to report to you everything the minute they're over. I wanted some time to think, Ino."_

She rolled her eyes at that comment. "Fine, fine, but at least give me _something_ to work with!" Picking up the bottle of syrup, she emptied it on her brunch before spearing a piece with a fork.

"_Well, his name is Sasuke Uchiha."_

She dropped the fork, food momentarily forgotten. "Sasuke Uchiha?! As in Sasuke Uchiha from _high school_? The basketball captain, the student council vice-president, _the guy you had a crush on in high school? That_ Sasuke Uchiha?"

"_The umm… same guy."_ Ino could practically feel her friend blush through the phone._ "He said he remembered me from high school. So… I umm… thank you, Ino."_

The blonde paused for a moment, attempting to figure out why her friend was expressing her gratitude. Wait a minute… "Are you two…?! Hinata Hyuuga!"

She heard a slight cough on the other end. _"Um, yeah. I never thought that this would ever happen. Apparently he…"_ A pause. _"He kind of liked me back then."_

Astounded at the fact 'Mr. Ego' from Konoha High had a _crush_ on her best friend back then, she inwardly squealed. This was turning out to be something from a drama or the like. "I'm sure you're now thankful for me replying for you."

"_Yes, yes, Ino. I promise I'll treat you next weekend, okay? But I've got to go. Sasuke's taking me out today."_

"I'll hold you to that, hon." With a grin, she continued, "Have fun, dear! I expect you to tell me _everything_ next weekend."

"_Okay, Ino. I'll talk to you later."_

"Bye!"

Plus one for her in the matchmaking department!

Now if only she could find herself a steady, reliable boyfriend.


End file.
